swapped C90 for V30 in the MKIV

[bandit2013]

I was going tone deaf so I decided to swap the C90 (which is in great shape and sounds awesome) with one of the V30's I pulled out of my recto 412 cab.

Started off at low volume (around 2) in the tweed power setting. Not bad. Not as deep as the C90. A bit more breakup with the clean channel. Switched through the other channels to get a feel. It was okay at low volume, not as good as the C90.

Switch to full power but left the master at 2. I did not expect to get distortion on the clean channel with moderate settings. Just as I suspected, voice coils are gone in the V30's. Also output was rather weak and I shut it down before doing any damage to the amp.

Put the C90 back in and it never sounded better. Reason for the swap? Was considering a Celestion Neodymium version of the V30 which has much higher power rating. C90 still a winner in the open combo.

 

[bandit2013]

Ever since I brought home the Mark V, the Mark IV just does not seem to be the amp I believed it to be. The same applied when I brought home the Mark IV and compared it to the Mark III. Just before I sold the Mark III, I re-tubed it and played through it for a week. It never sounded better. After it was gone, I felt something was missing in my tone on the Mark IV. I re-tubed it, (Never replaced any tubes for 13 years so it was due). Still was lacking what I rediscovered with the Mark III. A decent speaker. The Mark III was equipped with EVM12L's (Black shadow in the MkIII and Classic in the satellite ex cab). I would have kept the ex- cab but it was made to be the same size as the Mark III (had it hand made by my ex-wife's uncle).
More to the point; I did make a change to the Mark IV, installed a Black Label EVM12L. Sounded great, just what the amp needed when driven to band volume, but a bit on the deep end at low volume. It would have sounded better in a sealed cab. The C90 was the lesser of two evils, and performed well at lower volumes. The Mark V found a new home on top of the Mesa recto slanted 412. Sounded great for a short time before I had tube issues. Replaced the tubes, lasted a bit but still same issue. Red platting again... WTF... V30's were on the way out? The cab even sounded like crap with the Mark IV plugged into it. I did not get much use out of the 412, bought it at the same time as the Mark IV. 8 out of the 13 years I did not play guitar due to injury. Three more B.L. EVM12L later and the 412 was better than ever. The Mark V and EVM12L are a perfect match. Odd that the Mark IV still does not sound all that good when piped through the 412. However, the SED wing C made a huge difference in the Mark IV ( had to borrow them from the V to try it out in the IV).

Comparing the Mark III to the Mark IV, the lead channel was similar in character, just a bit more definition with the Mark IV but not much. The Mark V on the other hand, WOW, notes, chords, well defined even when pushing the gain envelope. I am considering getting another combo amp, I have looked at other brands etc... why not just get another V? I did try out a combo V and was not impressed (had to compete with some guy playing through a Fender, he kept turning it up to drown me out). When I bought the MKVHD I was in a sound room so I did not have to listen to the other noise but my own.